Paste, Bangkok

Every so often, we need something new and exciting to enter our culinary dining experience.  Same old, same old just gets boring after a while.  Plus, with every new restaurant or café, there's always an element of surprise, some good, and admittedly some bad.

Tonight, I experienced some very lovely surprises at a relatively new kid in town, Paste.  A small, but cosy restaurant, we were the first to arrive - as I like to eat early - and had the attentive service of Chef Bee all to ourselves.

Like all good restaurants, we were given a cocktail and a wine menu to begin with.  We didn't want to rush our meal and Paste is the sort of place in which one can relax and take in the evening. 

The food menu has enough to tickle anyone's tastebuds and while I really wanted to order the jelly fish and shredded chicken salad, Mr. P wasn't too keen.  He hates jellyfish and only continued to point to the small literature at the top of the menu stating that their dishes are meant for sharing.  OK, my fault for not reading through the whole menu properly!

We mutually agreed on the 'Crispy rice crackers with prawn, pork & peanut candy relish' and the 'Dry spiced chilli squid with a sweet vinegar & fresh tomato relish.'

The rice crackers were wonderfully light and non-greasy.  The prawn, pork and peanut relish was absolutely delicious!  The squid was yummy, but I found the tomato relish just a tad too tangy for my tastebuds, but Mr. P thought it was just right.

For the mains, we opted to share the 'Tamarind and caramel twice cooked-kurobuta pork belly with green mango, red okra, basil, & green chilli pickle,' and the 'Jasmine and cinnamon smoked wild sea bass with black vinegar, mint and crushed peanuts.'

The pork belly was beautifully cooked, the 'melt-in-the-mouth' fat was perfection.  Yes, fat is not good.  It was naughty but oh, sooo very nice.  If I had one complaint to make about this dish - it would simply be - there was not enough pork to be had.  It was seriously good and four slices between the two of us (gluttons), felt like a teaser. 

The smoked wild sea bass was certainly smoked.  Again, maybe just a tad slightly too smoked for me, but Mr. P didn't seem to mind it at all.  It was a generous piece of fish and certainly enough for the two of us. 

To finish off the meal, we perused the small dessert menu (three choices to be precise) and decided to share the hot brownie pie with coconut ice cream.

The brownie filling was deliciously stodgy and the crust had a nice texture, although it did taste a little salty towards the end.  The ice cream was a great accompaniment but the small ping pong ball like serving just wasn't enough for the both of us. 

Anna's Final Thoughts: Lovely place, good food, friendly service.  I'll definitely be back and I've already told my friends to go check it out.

PASTE
120/6 Sukhumvit Soi 49, Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: 02-392-4313
 
Open Tues-Sun noon-2.30pm, 6pm-late

Nearest BTS: Thong Lor, take the exit at the end (past exit 1) and walk down to Sukhumvit soi 49.  Take a taxi or motorsai down to Samitivej Hospital. 

Or Phrom Phong, take the exit down to Sukhumvit Soi 35 (opposite side to Emporium shopping mall) and catch a taxi to take you down Sukhumvit Soi 49 to Samitivej Hospital.

Alight at Samitivej Hospital and cross to the other side of the road.  Walk up a few meters until you see a little lane with a Thai restaurant on the corner.  Paste is next door, on the right hand side. 

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UnTour Shanghai - Oodles of Noodles

I'm back in Asia and I'm delighted to say I managed a quick jaunt to Shanghai with Mr. P.  So, whilst Mr. P was hard at work, I decided to do what I do best, eat! 

A quick search on the internet led me to UnTour Shanghai and after a few straight forward email exchanges, I was booked onto their Oodles of Noodles tour the next day.

I met up with Carla - our guide - at Fuxing Park along with two other delightful foodie fanatics.  Well, one of them was a journalist, sent to write a piece about the tour for one of the local papers.

We set off walking through the park, with Carla giving us a brief history of it.  Our first stop was a little noodle shop where we got to sample a bowl of their signature sesame peanut noodles.  With peanut sauce on top, they were quite claggy, but at the same time, delicious.  Simple, but very effective. 

 

Our next stop took us to another little laneway noodle shop where we sat upstairs and our guide ordered us two bowls of noodles; a pork and caramelised scallion noodle and a spicy pork and preserved cabbage noodle.  The pork and caramelised scallion noodle was out of this world delicious!  I loved the sweetness of the scallions mixed with the salty pork.  These noodles don't look like much, but it's packed full of flavour.  They were in fact my favourite.

 

 

The spicy pork and preserved cabbage noodles weren't so much spicy but more oily due to the chilli oil.  These didn't really do much for me, but it's all down to individual taste.

 

 

Our next stop took us to a fish noodle shop, and Carla ordered us a bowl of their signature Yellow Croaker fish noodles and a bowl of hairy crab noodles. 

 

The croaker fish noodles weren't anything to write home about and the hairy crab noodles were quite sweet.

 

 

 

And so we took a light break and wandered to a wet market where there were lots of vegetables, fish and seafood, dried goods and lots of other interesting foods.  Walking through the French concession area with a guide was fabulous.  We walked down little laneways, saw a couple of really interesting antique stroke café shops and listened to Carla telling us fascinating tidbits of the area.

 

Alas, the afternoon drew us onto our last noodle stop, a muslim eatery near to an underground station.  The noodles are handmade on the spot in front of customers and all I can say is that it must take some skill and many months, if not years, to become a seasoned noodle maker.  We sampled a beef noodle soup noodle and a hand cut stir fried noodle in a tomato sauce with beef and vegetables.  Both were delicious and the hand cut noodles were nice and chewy.

 

 

I loved this tour, even if I was a little noodle'd out by the end of it.  It was informative, delicious, relaxing and such a great way to spend an afternoon in Shanghai.  I'd recommend Untour Shanghai in a heartbeat.  I just wish I had had the time to do their breakfast tour!

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Back in Blighty - Ye Olde Steppes!

 

It's been a while since my last post.  Over a year in fact.  After such a long hiatus, I thought I ought to begin again whilst back in Blighty.

In true English fashion, I went to a tearoom, a very quaint one in the beautiful village of Pembridge, Hertfordshire.  It even came with a rosy-cheeked mother hen hostess who greeted us in the manner of old friends.



Décor is very olde English such matching floral curtains and table cloths, a doily on each table, wooden dressers, fireplaces, Union Jack flags, a vintage till and so on. 

This place also serves as a village shop selling fresh vegetables, sweets, jams, cards, homemade cakes etc.

After having a little look around, my three companions and I sat around a table in the main room and surveyed the beautifully thought out menu.  From what I could tell, so many of their ingredients are locally sourced such as the Hereford Hop (cheese), eggs, ham, pickle, jam, the list goes on.

Their food menu consists of soups, salads, sandwiches, baked potatoes, cream teas, homemade cakes.  All of it, deliciously tempting!

I haven't had a pork pie nor a ploughman's for a good five years, so I opted for their special, pork and ham pie ploughman's lunch.  One of my companions went for the red onion and goats cheese tart and the other two ordered the normal pork pie ploughman's. 

Check out my ham and chicken pork pie ploughman's lunch with crunchy salad and all the lovely trimmings: Branston pickle, coleslaw, cheese, salad, apple, crisps, bread, butter (admittedly far too generous).  Washed down with a refreshing bottle of organic cider.  It was blissfully scrumptious!

The onion and goat's cheese tart, served with coleslaw, salad and Tyrell's crisps (from Hertfordshire).  This also went down a treat. 

The food was a hit with all of us. And for me, it brought back memories of lunches which consisted of just some good old English bread, cheddar and pickles, a packet of crisps and fun times with friends.  Simple, but tasty, and really quite nostalgic. 

Pembridge Village Shop & Tearoom
High Street
Pembridge
Herts HR6 9DS
UK

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Cheers Bar & Grill, Bangkok

When I first heard about a new place called Cheers on Sukhumvit soi 22, I couldn't help but think of Cheers, the fictional Boston bar that dominated tv screens in the UK and US back in the 80s.

I've been to a 'Cheers' bar before.  But that one was in London, back in the late 90s, when life was all about working and playing.  These days, it's more about working and eating . . . in my case at least.  

I arrived here yesterday lunch time, ready for a sit down and a bite to eat after a somewhat taxing language lesson. 

Having walked from Asoke BTS, it only took me about six or so minutes.  It was a nice day and frankly, I needed the walk.

Located underneath the Regency Hotel, Cheers Bar & Grill is on the right hand side of the Soi when walking down from Sukhumvit road.  

The interior looks brand spanking new, which is a good thing, seeing as this place only opened on 2nd December.  I must admit, I felt a little honoured to be one of their earlier customers.

Kitted out in teak wood, the bar is at the back, three flat screen televisions, plenty of tables and chairs and a couple of high tables on the balcony for those who love to people watch (although it can get noisy outside!). 

A waitress instantly greeted me, allowed me to sit where I wanted to - which was in the corner on the large table - and gave me a menu to study.

And study it, I did.  The frosted plastic covered menu is fairly extensive as menus go: sandwiches with chips from 200 baht, steaks (from 600 baht, pizzas, pastas, fish and chips, Thai and Isaan food from 150 baht.  I can't name them all, but there is lot on offer.  Apparently there was more, but it's been cut down?! 

For vegetarians, I did notice that there weren't any dedicated vegetarian dishes.  And as one customer politely pointed this out, she was duly accommodated and was able to have her dish prepared with no meat.

I, as a meat eater (trying to reduce my consumption though) ordered a simple dish, stir fried rice noodles with chicken and vegetables (sen yai phad se-uw gai) at 150 baht.  It came presented in a lovely clean white dish - which made for a refreshing change.  Usually, I get it slopped onto a plate, no wiping away any spills.  But then I am partial to eating this at cheaper, no frills spared establishments.  

This sen yai phad se-uw gai was steaming hot and after I got my compulsory four condiments to personalise it, I began to dig in.  It was tasty and hit the just right spot.     

This place is still so new, I feel it's yet to make an impact.  I imagine it's a busy place in the evenings where many 'farangs' would flock to.

Service is polite, the place is clean.  The other dishes that came out of the kitchen looked generous and my friend tells me, their steaks are pretty tasty. 

Likes: The clean plate that my noodles came in.

Dislikes: The slightly too loud 80s glam rock music (I'm not that young anymore) which I grew out of in my late teens.  But those with a glam rock disposition will love it.

Final Thoughts: I am sure this new kid on the block will be a popular place for farangs and tourists alike. 

Cheers Bar & Grill
12/3 Sukhumvit Soi 22, Klong Toei, Bangkok 10110
Tel: +66 (0)2 259 7420

Nearest BTS: Phrom Phong, exit 3.  Go down the stairs instead of into Emporium and carrying on walking straight ahead until you get to Soi 22 on your left hand side.  Turn down Soi 22 and Cheers Bar & Grill is a few hundred metres on your right.

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Phuket Town, Thong Lor, Bangkok

Phuket Town sits on the corner of Sukhumvit 55 (aka Soi Thong Lor) and Thong Lor Soi 6.  It occupies a small shop house and although I won't go into how charming it looks, because yes, it does look it.  It is small however, with only seven tables in total, one would be forgiven for thinking that this place may feel tiny, but it has high ceilings so it doesn't feel too cramped.  

The food as one would guess, is Southern Thai food from the region of Phuket.  Which I might add, used to be so lovely and sleepy.  Fortunately or unfortunately - depending on which way you look at it - Phuket is now one big bustling, thriving town full of expats and tourists . . . .

The food here is home cooked fare, lots of shrimp paste, Southern style curries and plenty more.  I came here tonight in a group of four, we were all famished and ordered way too much.  Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of all the food.  A shame and for that, I do apologise.  I just tucked in and forgot all about papping the dishes as they came out.

We ordered the stir fried morning glory with shrimp paste.  If shrimp paste isn't your thing, you might not enjoy this so much.  The morning glory was crunchy and it wasn't spicy.

The bamboo shoots with minced prawn was generous, fresh and again not the least bit spicy.

The eggplant with deep fried seabass was fairly spicy.  I bit right into a red chilli and felt the numbing heat for a good few minutes.  Oh the joy of biting into red chilli seeds. 

The stir fried green beans with prawns in shrimp paste was OK. But I think I was a bit shrimp pasted out by this point.

We also ordered the fish cakes which were quite tasty.  Mini fish cakes that were bouncy, but minus any kaffir lime leaf or green beans.

Kanom Jeen Naam Ya Bpoo (crab curry with chinese rice noodles).  Thick yellow curry sauce with pieces of crab served with a plate of rice noodles, pickles, dried anchovies and chillies, pineapple. fresh beansprouts and Thai basil.  The curry is mild, probably a little too mild for my liking, but good all the same.

Fish balls with dipping sauce which were really plump.  My Western friends didn't really take to these.  Yes, they are an acquired taste - just like Marmite - love them or hate them.  Personally, I love them!

Finally we had the stir fried belly pork with sliced lemongrass and shallots. 

Overall, everyone seemed to enjoy the meal.  I did feel a little overwhelmed with all the food and sorry to say, that we left quite a bit of it as we couldn't finish it all. 

The staff are kept busy and the place has a great bustling feel about it.  We didn't feel rushed, in fact we were the last ones out at ten o'clock.  The owner was tilling up and the waiting staff had already cleared and wiped down the rest of the tables.

My party wanted more drinks, but we decided to move on and let them clear up and close for the night.

Likes: The cute mural on the wall.

Dislikes: The strange look I got from one of the staff when I didn't understand what he was asking me in Thai. 

Final Thoughts: It's a popular place for 'farangs' who love a bit of quaint Thailand.  For me, the food was good, it wasn't out of this world.  But I would go back, if just for the cute charm of the place.

Phuket Town

160/8 Thong Lor Soi 6, Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: +66 (0)2 714 9402

HOURS: 10:30am - 10:30pm

Nearest BTS: Thong Lor, Exit 3.  Catch a taxi or motorsai to corner of Thong Lor & Thong Lor Soi 6.

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Baan Kanitha & Gallery, Sathorn, Bangkok

Having already been to their Sukhumvit Soi 23 restaurant, this one is closer to where I live.  Therefore no having to traipse or drive around Bangkok for ages.  I decided to take my mother here for Sunday lunch.

We were the first ones in today.  Despite our mantra of 'an empty restaurant is never a good sign', we decided to just go with it.

The restaurant is large and spacious and can easily accommodate big parties and lots of diners.  It is decorated in the traditional Thai house style.  

We got the signature complimentary 'meang kum' as an appetite tickler.  It certainly did the trick and made us even more hungry than we had been when we arrived.  

Since our order of grilled fish would take about half an hour, we decided to order a starter to keep us from wilting. 

Our appetizer: 'Krathong Tong' (160 baht), which is basically minced shrimp, crabmeat and corn in a crispy pastry shell arrived in good time. 

They looked fairly pretty, but unfortunately were rather sweet.  Whilst corn has a natural sweetness to it, I think these had been bumped up with extra sweetness.  A shame, because they would have been good otherwise.

We duly waited for the rest of the dishes to come out, and the first dish to be served was the stir fried bok choy with garlic (160 baht). 

Thankfully, it wasn't greasy, but in my personal opinion, I thought it could have done with a tad more garlic to really impart their flavour onto the bok choy. 

The grilled cotton fish in Thai herbs wrapped in banana leaf (520 baht) was the next to come out.  The fish was moist and tasty.  My mother thought it could have done with a little more spice.  It had already been de-boned and beheaded, so those a little squeamish about being served a whole fish with head still on need not worry here.

The final dish to arrive was the 'Gai Phad Khing On', chicken with sliced young ginger (190 baht).  Again, not greasy, but not enough ginger.  I only got little morsels of ginger here and there, which for me, just wasn't enough to really love this dish.  Personally, I love this when it is loaded with lots of sliced ginger, in fact, an insurmountable amount, the better.

I have to agree with my mother, the food is catered more to the foreigner. The dishes just didn't reach the point of spicyness that Thai food (catered to Thais) should be and the tastes of the dishes were more subtle in flavour.

It makes sense that many foreigners love Baan Kanitha and the fact that the other tables occupied today were indeed occupied by foreigners.  

Service is polite and friendly.  There is also a bakery and cafe to the side of the restaurant.

Baan Kanitha & Gallery
69 South Sathorn Road, Thungmahamek, South Sathorn, Bangkok 10120
Tel: +66 (0)2 675 4200-1
Nearest Station: Lumpini MRT, take exit to Sathorn Road.  Get a taxi or motorsai or walk about 8 minutes.  Baan Kanitha will be on your left hand side.


HOURS

Daily 11am-11pm

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Secret Garden, Sathorn, Bangkok

Secret Garden in Sathorn sits in a beautiful English tea room styled house.  With a pretty front garden, this place is nestled behind a tall wall on the busy Sathorn road.

I guess it's not so 'secret' these days with so many other outlets (namely CentralWorld and Thonglor). 

In Sathorn there is parking, which can get full pretty quickly, especially on Sundays.  This place is famous for their crepe cake, which I must admit was the reason for my and my DM's visit today.

We arrived just before midday, so there were still a few car park spaces left.  

On entering the high ceiling restaurant, we were warmly welcomed by courteous and friendly staff

The Thai and English menu consists of fusion style Thai food.  We ordered a cooked salmon salad (240 baht), crispy spring rolls, shrimp paste fried rice and spicy glass noodle prawn salad.  

The staff all speak pretty good English, so no worries if you don't speak Thai.  

First out was the cooked salmon salad.  With fresh herbs and dried chillies, it was a little spicy, but not so much as to blow one's head off.  They also gave us extra dressing in a side bowl should we need it.  The salmon was lovely, but we both found the dressing a little bit on the salty side. 

The crispy spring rolls came with a slightly sweet syrupy sauce.  These were crispy, non-greasy and although not traditional in the sense of spring roll filling that I am used to, they were good.

The shrimp paste fried rice came with all the condiments on the side: dried shrimps, freshly sliced chillies, red onion, raw mango, sweet pork and slices of omelette on top of the rice.  We both really enjoyed this dish, dm especially.  

The prawn glass noodle salad came with plenty of juicy, plump prawns, fresh herbs and chopped peanuts (which so many foreigners, rightly or wrongly, associate with Thai cooking).  

The salad was fresh and maybe a little bit on the sweet side.  

Seeing as this place is famous for their crepe cake.  What better way to end than a cup of tea with cake.  All their teas are served in the one pot, one cup set.  How rather quaint and adorable I say!

The slice of crepe cake came drizzled with strawberry coulis on top.  It was delicious, soft crepe, fresh cream, not too sweet strawberry coulis.

All in all, we were pretty satisfied.  Service was excellent I thought, savoury food was pretty good and their crepe cake was just lovely.  In fact, I have heard that their cakes is the reason for why so many people come here.  And really, they serve a lot of crepe cake!

This is a lovely, tranquil hideaway from the hustle and bustle of Sathorn road.  It really did remind me of an English country garden in so many different ways . . . and I have to say, having been brought up in the Cotswolds, England (where I was surrounded by tea shops), it brought on a lot of nostalgia, in a good way of course.  

Secret Garden
117 Thanon Sathon Tai, Thung Maha Mek, Sathon, Bangkok 10500
Tel: +66 (0)2 286 2464
Nearest MRT: Lumpini Park, exit for Sathorn Road.  Take a taxi or walk about 8 or so minutes.  

HOURS

Daily 11am-10pm

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Dumpling Crazy At Din Tai Fung, CentralWorld, Bangkok

Din Tai Fung, Bangkok has a fairly large location on the 7th floor in CentralWorld. 

I have eaten at a Din Tai Fung restaurant before, in Sydney, Australia.  It was recommended by some friends who are a Sydney-siders who love food.  All I can say is, it was good!

Din Tai Fung in Bangkok has an open dumpling kitchen so patrons can watch the chefs making the dumplings whilst salivating.

For those who may not know, Din Tai Fung is in fact a Taiwanese dumpling restaurant.   Many people come for their 'xiao long bao' dumplings, which do in fact come from Shanghai and those passionate about these dumplings will tell you that only in Shanghai can you get the best xiao long bao.

Although I have been to Shanghai, unfortunately I have never eaten these wonderful dumplings there.  I was, but a mere backpacker at the time.

Nevertheless, we ordered half a dozen of these soup and meat dumplings (145 baht), half a dozen prawn and pork shao mai (close to 200 baht I think?), noodles with spicy minced beef, steamed pork soup (185 baht) and stir fry veggies (sorry folks, can't remember their chinese name ... terrible I know!).

The xiao long bao dumplings were hot, beautifully wrapped morsels.  The wrappers were just the right consistency, not too thin and not too thick. 

 

The prawn and pork shao mai looked liked beautiful little parcels.  The fanciest shao mai I have ever seen.  

Again they were hot, but a little difficult to eat.  I found myself biting the top part (the prawn) before then digging into the bottom.  The dumpling wrappers were a little thick and glutinous.  The mince pork had been well seasoned.

The noodles are dan dan noodles (spicy Sichuan noodles).  Being complete noodle freaks, we both really enjoyed these.  In fact, you may have noticed how much Thais in general, love noodles ....

The steamed pork soup was very tasty.  It wasn't overly salty at all which I loved.  The pork just fell off the bone.  Steamed pork soup is (for me at least) a comfort food and many who grew up with Chinese parents will readily know what I mean.

The stir fry veggies were also good. Lightly stir fried, they weren't greasy at all which was really very pleasant.

Staff are friendly, polite and well-trained.  Tea is constantly topped up, so no having to wait around trying to flag someone down.  If you're craving some good dumplings, then get yourself down to Din Tai Fung in CentralWorld.

By the time we finished, the place was full.  Just like in Sydney, people were queuing up to get in.  I'm glad we arrived here just before the mad lunch rush (midday) and I'd advise anyone who wants to avoid queuing to do the same. 

Din Tai Fung

7th Floor, CentralWorld Shopping Mall, Bangkok

Tel: 02-646-1282

Nearest BTS: Siam or Chidlom.  Follow the signed skywalk.

HOURS

Daily 10am-10pm

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